There appears to be a new growing, low-cost streaming service in town.
Research and analytics firm Antenna released estimates Wednesday that Howdy, Roku’s $2.99 per month ad-free SVOD, has surpassed 1 million subscribers in just eight months since its launch.
Debuted in August 2025, Howdy was first only available across the U.S. on the Roku platform via Roku subscriptions, offering thousands of TV and film titles and nearly 10,000 hours of entertainment content at launch from partners like Lionsgate, Warner Bros. Discovery, and FilmRise, as well as select Roku Originals.
Roku’s own SVOD is a somewhat unique offering in the market with its proposition of low-cost, ad-free and on-demand entertainment content -– at a time when major SVODs continue to raise prices on ad-free tiers, widening the gap from the cost of their ad-supported subscription plans, and with fully free ad-supported streaming options more readily available.
It’s an offering that Roku seems to have seen signals of an appetite for – where it has positioned the SVOD as a low-cost entertainment complement to premium streamers. But not everyone was necessarily convinced Howdy would see traction when it first launched amid a crowded and competitive streaming space.
However, consumers appear to be taking to the service.
Antenna provided this signup chart showing estimates that Howdy attracted 285,000 subscribers its first month and roughly 100,000 each month following. Subscriber growth did slow down between February and March, when Antenna estimates Howdy added 26,000 subscribers.
What’s more, early subscribers look to be sticking with Howdy service and at a rate that outpaces major premium and niche SVODs.
Per Antenna estimates, among those that signed up for Howdy in August and September, about 51% were still subscribed six months later. That “survival rate,” as Antenna puts it, outpaces averages for premium SVODs (47%) and specialty SVODs (38%) tracked.
Here the firm, provided a little color into the findings, suggesting the low price point plays a role as it “reduces the friction that drives churn on higher-paid services.”
Note, Antenna's tracked services include major SVODs: Apple TV, Discovery+, Disney+, FOX One, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Starz; and specialty SVODs: Acorn TV, AMC+, BET+, BritBox, Cinemax, Crunchyroll, MGM+, Hallmark+, PBS KIDS, PBS Masterpiece, Shudder, UP Faith & Family.
And with Roku recently surpassing the 100 million streaming household mark and powering the CTV home screen, it has plenty of opportunity and living room real estate to get Howdy in front of potential customers.
The 1 million paid subscriber figure is also notable in that Howdy’s distribution was only previously available via The Roku Channel premium subscriptions channel store. The growth in subscribers led Howdy to account for 23% of all SVOD signups via the Roku channel store since launch.
Although Howdy signups decelerated in March, another boost could be coming – as that was the same month Howdy launched on Amazon Prime Video Channels. And while Amazon’s channel store could be seen as a competitor to Roku’s premium subscription efforts, it’s also a distribution avenue that Antenna has previously credited for helping drive third-party subscription signups like it did for Apple TV+ a year ago.
Antenna didn’t yet have any Howdy signup data to share in terms of the Amazon Prime Video Channels store.
In March during the Amazon Channels debut, Gil Fuchsberg, President of Subscriptions, Partnerships and Corporate Development at Roku, said in a statement that Roku was “pleased with the response we’ve seen from our viewers and partners since launch.”
“Expanding to Prime Video builds on our momentum and furthers our mission to deliver an ad-free streaming experience at a price that makes it easy for audiences everywhere to enjoy content they love,” Fuchsberg continued.
And after first only being distributed in the U.S. on Roku CTV platforms, in late March Roku also introduced a Howdy mobile app experience in the U.S. and in April expanded with a launch in Mexico.
When the SVOD first debuted Roku Founder and CEO Anthony Wood described the aim, where it positioned Howdy as a low-cost addition to pad out or complement consumers’ premium streaming service lineup.
“Priced at less than a cup of coffee, Howdy is ad-free and designed to complement, not compete with, premium services,” stated Wood last August. “We’re meeting a real need for consumers who want to unwind with their favorite movies and shows uninterrupted and on their terms. Howdy is a natural step for us at Roku, extending our mission to make better TV for everyone, by making it affordable, accessible, and built for how people watch today.”
Howdy’s on-demand library includes titles such as Mad Max: Fury Road, The Blind Side, Weeds, and Kids in the Hall, as well as “iconic rom-coms, medical dramas, ‘90s comedy, feel-good classics and more.”